Serianna - 08.10.12

Life has its ups and downs. How you respond to it all is what makes you who you truly are. For Serianna, the metal act has a lot to be proud of for the way the group has handled itself in the face of adversity. Thanks to Chris for taking some time out to clear up some things.

1. Introduce yourself.
Hey, This is Chris Ferraro. I play drums for Serianna.

2. Looks like there is some drama/controversy over past and current members. What happened? What's the story?
Yes, you could definitely say that. As of August 1st we have decided to part ways with our guitarist James Milbrandt and our bassist Lee Milbrandt. Though it was a hard decision, it was more than necessary. The story is not a short one, there's a lot of things that led up to this point. Since the release of our Bullet Tooth album "Inheritors", Kris (Guitar) and myself have been continuously writing. We felt that it was good to keep that going and to keep growing our sound and style. To simplify the writing portion, the Milbrandt brothers were not on the same page. They had literally nothing to offer musically, and had nothing but negative comments about what it was we were writing. We had been writing songs for the upwards of 9 months, with 20+ songs completed. Asking for their help repeatedly, they would always say "I'll send you stuff tonight" and that was the last I would hear from them for a week. They were constantly late for everything, from practices, to shows, to leaving for tours. Not like your average 30 minutes late... I'm talking HOURS. There were times when we would leave for shows 3+ hours late because of them. We dropped off the first dates of tours, and have had to cancel shows because they didn't have the ability to be on time for anything. When it came to touring, they complained constantly. It made it difficult to want to tour because they were always saying "We deserve better, We have way more to offer than these bands." Not to mention that we dropped off two of our last tours a week+ early because of any number of complaints they had about that given tour, all the while making fun/putting down the bands that we were on tour with. They would constantly spend all their time spamming kids on twitter to gain the amount of followers that they have now, which is great I guess. It's no different than getting spam email in my opinion. We always thought our time was better spent working, not building an internet ego. Imagine you had a job that you worked at for 6 years. In that time, you progressively worked less and less and less. Your friends/co-workers/bosses have all come to you multiple times and said "You should really focus on the core aspect of your job instead of socializing at work so much." So instead of helping your co-workers, you get upset at what they said. You work less, complain more, act immaturely towards your co-workers, and show up consistently late. Do you think you would have your job for much longer? Would your years of experience at a job save you from your counter-productive performance? These are only some of the big reasons that we chose to move on from the Milbrandts. In the end, it's not about how many Twitter followers you have, or how much you can tweet/post about how much "work" you do. It's about actually DOING the work. They are talented guitar players, hair dressers, and social network spammers. I'm sure they will find something to do with that skill set someday.

3. You guys have been writing/recording. Can you give us some details on what's going on there?
We have been writing a lot! We are very very excited to start releasing teaser videos and songs! Something we have been working on for our new sound is grooves and melodies. We feel that Inheritors was great, but lacked the feeling that Kris, Chris (Vocals), and I wanted to capture. We are working on writing memorable singing parts with real, honest lyrics to back them. Still writing music that falls under the "Metal-core" genre, just really working on getting away from being called "Baby-ABR" or "Baby-R".

4. You have also been touring a lot recently. How's that been and what's in store going forward?
This whole last year has been great to us as far as touring. Every band we have had the pleasure of traveling with has been great to us. Everything from small tours to big tours, you can really tell how well it starts to pay off! We have been fortunate enough to play everything from House of Blues LA, to floor shows in Atlanta GA. We love every bit of both worlds.

5. Now that the two brothers are no longer in the band - how does this affect the writing of the band?
We feel like we will be able to start experimenting with new things freely, and constructively criticize one another. To quote one of the Milbrandts "I want to write music that displays our musicianship, not music that kids just dance around to." This was in regards to a song Kris and I wrote with grooves and slower tempos. Our last album was all high tempo (160-210bpm). Our new music is much more down tempo, but it's all subdivided and groovey, so it hardly feels slow at all. In fact things will sound faster because we are actually able to play more difficult and faster parts in the slower tempos. We have also tuned down to drop B, which has opened up many options. The heavy stuff sounds heavier, and the pretty stuff sounds just as pretty. It's a win win all around.

6. What's been playing on the iPod recently?
I've been all over the place lately. I cannot stop listening to Buddy Guy's "Living proof" album, it's on repeat all day. I'm loving the new Memphis May Fire CD "Challenger." and The Ghost Inside's "Get What You Give."

7. You guys put out the "Lose Yourself" cover a couple of months ago. Why that cover and have you been playing it live?
That song has a lot of special memories for all the Chris's. Kris and I wrote that song entirely (the cover at least ha ha), with the brothers actually saying "No" the entire time. Getting them on-board with a hip-hop song was difficult until it was fully written and demo'd. We chose that song because we absolutely love Eminem. He is a phenomenal, inspiring artist, who is always pushing boundaries and his own limits. I know we took some hate from people saying "You don't cover Eminem" but we couldn't think of a better artist to tribute in our own way. Songs like "Lose Yourself" were the reason we got into music in the first place. Genres should never matter, it's all about what the music makes you feel.

8. Wisconsin is not known for its metal music from what I know. How does you guys get over the roadblock of being from a small scene?
Wisconsin doesn't have the biggest metal scene, but it's a good one! There's been a few bands to come out of the woodwork around here. Misery Signals has always been a big inspiration. We have always gotten a lot of support from friends and family that we wouldn't trade for the world. The only way to get over any roadblock in this industry... we pushed straight through it. People will always tell you no, and things will never be easy, but they could always be worse. We take every step we can to keep things moving, and we can't wait to start releasing our newest material. No matter what happens, we are going to keep moving forward.

9. Anything else to say?
Keep posted for all the new teasers and videos we will be posting of our newest and strongest music to date. (We will be posting one very soon!) We will have tour announcements soon as well! Thank you to everyone who has given us support through all of this. Your support helps us keep writing to the best of our abilities. Can't wait to see you all on the road soon! Stay Metal-Core.

Life has its ups and downs. How you respond to it all is what makes you who you truly are. For Serianna, the metal act has a lot to be proud of for the way the group has handled itself in the face of adversity. Thanks to Chris for taking some time out to clear up some things.

1. Introduce yourself.
Hey, This is Chris Ferraro. I play drums for Serianna.

2. Looks like there is some drama/controversy over past and current members. What happened? What's the story?
Yes, you could definitely say that. As of August 1st we have decided to part ways with our guitarist James Milbrandt and our bassist Lee Milbrandt. Though it was a hard decision, it was more than necessary. The story is not a short one, there's a lot of things that led up to this point. Since the release of our Bullet Tooth album "Inheritors", Kris (Guitar) and myself have been continuously writing. We felt that it was good to keep that going and to keep growing our sound and style. To simplify the writing portion, the Milbrandt brothers were not on the same page. They had literally nothing to offer musically, and had nothing but negative comments about what it was we were writing. We had been writing songs for the upwards of 9 months, with 20+ songs completed. Asking for their help repeatedly, they would always say "I'll send you stuff tonight" and that was the last I would hear from them for a week. They were constantly late for everything, from practices, to shows, to leaving for tours. Not like your average 30 minutes late... I'm talking HOURS. There were times when we would leave for shows 3+ hours late because of them. We dropped off the first dates of tours, and have had to cancel shows because they didn't have the ability to be on time for anything. When it came to touring, they complained constantly. It made it difficult to want to tour because they were always saying "We deserve better, We have way more to offer than these bands." Not to mention that we dropped off two of our last tours a week+ early because of any number of complaints they had about that given tour, all the while making fun/putting down the bands that we were on tour with. They would constantly spend all their time spamming kids on twitter to gain the amount of followers that they have now, which is great I guess. It's no different than getting spam email in my opinion. We always thought our time was better spent working, not building an internet ego. Imagine you had a job that you worked at for 6 years. In that time, you progressively worked less and less and less. Your friends/co-workers/bosses have all come to you multiple times and said "You should really focus on the core aspect of your job instead of socializing at work so much." So instead of helping your co-workers, you get upset at what they said. You work less, complain more, act immaturely towards your co-workers, and show up consistently late. Do you think you would have your job for much longer? Would your years of experience at a job save you from your counter-productive performance? These are only some of the big reasons that we chose to move on from the Milbrandts. In the end, it's not about how many Twitter followers you have, or how much you can tweet/post about how much "work" you do. It's about actually DOING the work. They are talented guitar players, hair dressers, and social network spammers. I'm sure they will find something to do with that skill set someday.

3. You guys have been writing/recording. Can you give us some details on what's going on there?
We have been writing a lot! We are very very excited to start releasing teaser videos and songs! Something we have been working on for our new sound is grooves and melodies. We feel that Inheritors was great, but lacked the feeling that Kris, Chris (Vocals), and I wanted to capture. We are working on writing memorable singing parts with real, honest lyrics to back them. Still writing music that falls under the "Metal-core" genre, just really working on getting away from being called "Baby-ABR" or "Baby-R".

4. You have also been touring a lot recently. How's that been and what's in store going forward?
This whole last year has been great to us as far as touring. Every band we have had the pleasure of traveling with has been great to us. Everything from small tours to big tours, you can really tell how well it starts to pay off! We have been fortunate enough to play everything from House of Blues LA, to floor shows in Atlanta GA. We love every bit of both worlds.

5. Now that the two brothers are no longer in the band - how does this affect the writing of the band?
We feel like we will be able to start experimenting with new things freely, and constructively criticize one another. To quote one of the Milbrandts "I want to write music that displays our musicianship, not music that kids just dance around to." This was in regards to a song Kris and I wrote with grooves and slower tempos. Our last album was all high tempo (160-210bpm). Our new music is much more down tempo, but it's all subdivided and groovey, so it hardly feels slow at all. In fact things will sound faster because we are actually able to play more difficult and faster parts in the slower tempos. We have also tuned down to drop B, which has opened up many options. The heavy stuff sounds heavier, and the pretty stuff sounds just as pretty. It's a win win all around.

6. What's been playing on the iPod recently?
I've been all over the place lately. I cannot stop listening to Buddy Guy's "Living proof" album, it's on repeat all day. I'm loving the new Memphis May Fire CD "Challenger." and The Ghost Inside's "Get What You Give."

7. You guys put out the "Lose Yourself" cover a couple of months ago. Why that cover and have you been playing it live?
That song has a lot of special memories for all the Chris's. Kris and I wrote that song entirely (the cover at least ha ha), with the brothers actually saying "No" the entire time. Getting them on-board with a hip-hop song was difficult until it was fully written and demo'd. We chose that song because we absolutely love Eminem. He is a phenomenal, inspiring artist, who is always pushing boundaries and his own limits. I know we took some hate from people saying "You don't cover Eminem" but we couldn't think of a better artist to tribute in our own way. Songs like "Lose Yourself" were the reason we got into music in the first place. Genres should never matter, it's all about what the music makes you feel.

8. Wisconsin is not known for its metal music from what I know. How does you guys get over the roadblock of being from a small scene?
Wisconsin doesn't have the biggest metal scene, but it's a good one! There's been a few bands to come out of the woodwork around here. Misery Signals has always been a big inspiration. We have always gotten a lot of support from friends and family that we wouldn't trade for the world. The only way to get over any roadblock in this industry... we pushed straight through it. People will always tell you no, and things will never be easy, but they could always be worse. We take every step we can to keep things moving, and we can't wait to start releasing our newest material. No matter what happens, we are going to keep moving forward.

9. Anything else to say?
Keep posted for all the new teasers and videos we will be posting of our newest and strongest music to date. (We will be posting one very soon!) We will have tour announcements soon as well! Thank you to everyone who has given us support through all of this. Your support helps us keep writing to the best of our abilities. Can't wait to see you all on the road soon! Stay Metal-Core.